Brisbane's leadership void has been laid bare after scans confirmed Pat Carrigan's season-ending ACL rupture.
His absence, coupled with first-choice skipper Alex Glenn still being sidelined by a calf problem, now has a quintet of unlikely captaincy contenders being lined up by coach Kevin Walters.
Glenn is still 2-3 weeks away, meaning playmakers Jake Turpin and Anthony Milford are in the captaincy mix alongside forwards Payne Haas, Matthew Lodge and Tevita Pangai jnr.
Walters is yet to make a call on who will lead the Broncos in Friday's Magic Round clash with Manly and beyond.
But he is hardly spoilt for proven choices given Milford is fighting for his career at the club while Haas, Lodge and Pangai have courted off-field controversy with alarming consistency.